More ‘Z’ fold card ideas

By | December 2, 2015
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Hi there

Here are some more samples I made using the ‘Z’ fold style from yesterday.

This first one uses the All Ye Faithful set.  I love the line art that you can colour in or leave blank if you wish – I used about 10 different colours to colour these images in!

Supplies:
Stamp Set – All Ye Faithful
Card Stock – Cherry Cobbler, Mossy Meadow, Very Vanilla
Ink – Momento Black, Cherry Cobbler, Hello Honey, Sahara Sand, Pink Pirouette, Soft Sky, Pool Party, Night of Navy, Garden Green, Smoky Slate, Soft Suede

For this one I’ve used the Holly Jolly Greetings set again – this has been one of my favourite sets this Christmas.

The Snowflake Elements (another like) have been sponged with White Craft ink – the only thing is you need to leave them to dry overnight otherwise you’ll have ink on your fingers – this is me speaking from experience the hard way!

Supplies:
Stamp set – Holly Jolly Greetings
Card Stock – Pool Party, Island Indigo, Shimmery White, Basic Gray, Silver Foil
Ink – Pool Party, Island Indigo, White Craft
Other – Christmas Greetings Thinlits Die, Snowflake Elements, Circle Framelits, Bitty Banner Framelits, White Embossing Powder, Confetti Stars Border Punch, Sponge, Rhinestones

I have one more Z fold card to show you tomorrow – this one is slightly different to the other ones but I’m sure you’ll love.

November Card Class Projects

By | December 1, 2015
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Hi there

We’ve made it to the last month for 2015!  I haven’t even started thinking of Christmas shopping (I still have to finish my nephews present from last year! – bad aunt).

This afternoon I finally got round to photographing a number of projects I created last month – now I need to blog them all.  So first off are the two projects we created for my monthly card class.  Seeing as we are close to Christmas I decided to do a card and a 3D project.

This is a fancy fold card called a ‘Z’ fold.  The measurements for this card are:
Card base (Smoky Slate) – 10.5cm x 14.8cm (cut 2)
Mat (Real Red) – 9.5cm x 13.8cm (cut 2)
Whisper White – 8.5cm x 12.8cm (cut 1)
Z Fold insert – 9cm x 29.7cm (cut 1) – score at 13cm and 26cm

Adhere the ‘Z’ fold to the base first then close the ‘Z’ fold and put adhesive on the small flap of the ‘Z’ fold (this will then be attached to the back of the front section).  Line the front to the back matching the left hand side first.  This way your card will be aligned when closed.

I saw a number of samples of this Snap Close Box on Pinterest and they looked so cute.  I managed to find a link to a video by Keren sharing the measurements – thanks :).  I made a few changes so that I could get two of these from an A4 sheet of cardstock.  I will try and get my handwritten instructions done into a proper tutorial shortly and post here.  In the meantime enjoy.  The ladies had two colour options to choose from – Mossy Meadow or Real Red.

You may have noticed the red ‘berries’ – these are rhinestones coloured in with a red Sharpie marker – thanks Sally for that tip 🙂

Supplies:
Card
Stamp Set – Holly Jolly Greetings
Card Stock – Smoky Slate, Real Red, Whisper White, Silver Glimmer Paper
Ink – Smoky Slate, Real Red
Other – Snowflake Elements, Silver Cording, Pearls, Rhinestones, White Embossing Powder, Bitty Banners Framelits, Christmas Greetings Thinlits Dies, Curvy Corner Trio Punch

Snap Close Box
Stamp Set – Embellished Ornaments
Card Stock – Mossy Meadow/Real Red, Whisper White, Gold and Red Foil
Ink – Mossy Meadow, Real Red
DSP – Merry Moments DSP Stack
Other – Stylus, Delicate Ornament Thinlits Dies, Rhinestones, Red Sharpie (Non SU)

Congrats to Delys and Heather

By | November 30, 2015
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Hi there

A couple of months ago two of my wider team members met some amazing milestones in their Stampin’ Up! careers and I wanted to acknowledge them and what better way to do that than with a personalised handmade card – it’s what we do isn’t it 🙂

When I realised I didn’t have any decent sized ‘congratulations’ stamps I made my own word using the Layered Letters Alphabet stamp set.  This is a Photopolymer set which made it really easy to line the letters up and get them straight.

Mint Macaron and Watermelon Wonder team nicely with Tip Top Taupe – these are three of the 2015-2017 In Colours.  What have you created with these In Colours?

Supplies:
Stamp Set – Layered Letters Alphabet
Card Stock – Tip Top Taupe, Mint Macaron/Watermelon Wonder, Whisper White
Ink – Tip Top Taupe
Other – Chevron/Zig Zag Embossing Folder, Tip Top Taupe Dotted Lace Trim, Rhinestones, Banner Triple Punch

Congratulations ladies on your marvelous achievements 🙂

Cherry on Top Starburst Card

By | November 28, 2015
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Hi there

I started to clean my craft desk this afternoon but didn’t get very far – its now messier than when I started!  I got waylaid and ended up creating a card and sorting some bits to make more tomorrow!

Here’s a card I created a while ago using the Cherry on Top DSP stack.  The 6 x 6″ size is great for card fronts and small 3D items.  The below technique is called a Starburst card and is fun to create.

Supplies:
Stamp Set – Butterfly Basics
Card Stock – Bermuda Bay, Tip Top Taupe, Whisper White
Ink – Bermuda Bay
DSP – Cherry on Top DSP Stack
Other – Tags & Labels Framelits, 1/8″ Gold Ribbon

Maybe tomorrow I’ll clean my desk.

Cotton Paper Flower

By | November 27, 2015
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Hi there

I hope you’ve had a great day – I have :).  This afternoon I got together with a lovely group of ladies and we made 5 projects – 3 cards and 2 boxes.  I’ll try and take photos of them this weekend and share with you next week.

As I’ve mentioned before my favourite pages in the annual catalogue are pages 148 and 149.  There are so many great products on these two pages – go and check them out.  A new addition to the catalogue this year is the Cotton Paper Assortment.  Here I’ve created a flower using the Flower Medallion punch and the Petite Petals punch.  The petals are held together with a mini brad.  The Large Polka Dot Embossing Folder adds texture to the background card stock.

Supplies:
Stamp Set – Build a Birthday
Card Stock – Bermuda Bay, Whisper White
DSP – Cherry on Top DSP Stack
Ink – Watermelon Wonder
Other – Watermelon Wonder and Crushed Curry Cotton Paper, Large Polka Dot Embossing Folder, Flower Medallion Punch, Petite Petals Punch, 1/8″ Mini Brad

Elegant Dots plus Happy Patterns Mask = Thank You Card

By | November 26, 2015
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Hi there

I’m feeling very relaxed after a week away at Owhango (between Taumaruni and National Park).  We had a great time and did lots of walking and took heaps of photos.  Now to get them printed and do my first Project Life album 🙂

Here’s a card I made a while ago that combines one of our decorative masks with a coordinating embossing folder.  To get this effect I ran the Whisper White through the Big Shot with the Elegant Dots Embossing Folder.  Next place the coordinating Happy Patterns mask over the embossed card stock and ink away – I used a dauber to apply the ink.

After creating the background I wasn’t sure what to put on the front so went with just a sentiment created with the Hello You Thinlits.  There are four dies in this set but by cutting off the ‘s’ from the ‘thanks’ you can get an extra word 🙂

Supplies:
Card Stock – Pear Pizzazz, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White
Ink – Blushing Bride
Other – Happy Patterns Decoarative Masks, Elegant Dots Embossing Folder, Hello You Thinlits, Daubers

Embellished Ornaments – Inlaid Ornament

By | November 18, 2015
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Hi there

Here’s a card I made ages ago using three new products from the Holiday Catalogue – the Delicate Ornaments Thinlits, Versatile Christmas stamp set and the Curvy Corner Trio Punch.

I die cut the ornament and then put it back in the cutout (I used the new Tear and Tape Adhesive to hold the ornament in place but didn’t remove the backing tape).  The card front is adhered with dimensionals for height and finally – add a bow and you are done.

Supplies:
Stamp Set – Versatile Christmas
Card Stock – Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White, Gold Foil
Ink – Cherry Cobbler
Other – Delicate Ornament Thinlits Die, 1/8″ Gold Ribbon, Curvy Corner Trio Punch, Dimensionals

20% of selected stamps

By | November 16, 2015
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Hi there

20% Off Stamps

Stampin’ Up! have just announced a new promotion – 20% of selected stamp sets from now until Friday 20 November.

Check out the full list here.  I will be placing an order tonight at 9:00pm so if there are any stamp sets you want email me before then.

Sprinkles of Life Ice Cream Cards

By | November 13, 2015
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Hi there

Last night Phil and I walked round to our local Ice Cream haunt – Ollies at Royal Oak.  They have a huge selection of favours.  A new one on the list is Lemon Cheesecake – it was SO yum.  I think there may be more evening walks in that direction!

These cards were made before I found Lemon Cheesecake but I’m sure still taste yum – chocolate, mint and strawberry flavoured 🙂

Supplies:
Stamp Set – Sprinkles of Life, Gorgeous Grunge, Endless Birthday Wishes
Card Stock – Early Espresso, Chocolate Chip, Mint Macaron, Pink Pirouette, Tip Top Taupe Whisper White
Ink – Early Espresso, Chocolate Chip, Mint Macaron, Pink Pirouette, Tip Top Taupe
Other – Tree Builder Punch, Dimensionals

Supplies:
Stamp Set – Sprinkles of Life
Card Stock – Early Espresso, Chocolate Chip, Mint Macaron, Pink Pirouette, Tip Top Taupe Whisper White
Ink – Early Espresso, Chocolate Chip, Mint Macaron, Pink Pirouette, Tip Top Taupe
DSP – Cherry on Top DSP Stack
Other – Tree Builder Punch, Pink Pirouette Candy Dots, Dimensionals

Gruffalo Birthday Card

By | November 12, 2015
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Hi there

This ‘lady of leisure’ has been slack again in the blogging department but I’ll think you’ll like todays post.

Our neighbours son turned 3 last month and had a ‘Gruffalo’ themed birthday party.  For those of you who don’t have young children and have never read a Gruffalo story book you need to head to the library and read one.  I love reading these stories to the kids when I babysit them – I’m not sure who enjoys them more 🙂

I checked out Pinterest to see if I could find instructions for a Gruffalo punch art card – and to my surprise I did.  A big thank you to Kelly Kent – she’s a star with punch art creations.

Here’s my creation:

Supplies:
Stamp Set – Endless Birthday Wishes (one of my favourites), Lovely as a Tree
Card Stock – Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Pie, Pink Pirouette, Basic Gray, Smoky Slate, Sahara Sand, Crumb Cake, Basic Black, Old Olive, Crushed Curry
Ink – Soft Sky, Garden Green, Chocolate Chip
Punches/Framelits – 1/2″ Circle, 1″ Circle, Large Oval, Small Oval, Bird Builder, Cupcake Builder, Owl Builder (mouse), Boho Blossom and Modern Label (retired), Oval Framelit, Deco Label Framelit
Other – Woodlands Embossing Folder

Visit to new Stampin’ Up! office

By | November 9, 2015
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Hi there

It feels like summer has finally arrived – the weather has been so nice lately I haven’t wanted to be sitting in front of the computer hence the late blogging of my visit to the new Stampin’ Up! office last week.

I had a lovely time with Emma and did remember to take my camera so here are a few pictures of the office space and some displays she has on show.

At our last wider team meeting we each made an extra swap so that Emma could add these to her displays and here it is:

We also had a competition for all NZ based demos to send in creations for the new office:

Behind me are some displays of DSP and some of our framelits – I love how she has them displayed so you can see all the different sizes and components – may have to use this idea myself.

Embellished Ornaments – Glimmer and Shine

By | November 5, 2015
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Hi there

Thought I’d get my next post up early as I’m heading to the new Stampin’ Up! office for a visit with Emma our Country Manager :).  Check back tomorrow for some photos – better pack my camera!

This is the second card we made for card class last month using the Embellished Ornaments stamp set and the Delicate Ornaments Thinlits Dies which you can buy as a bundle and save 15%.

To get our red berries we used the Real Red Marker to colour over the stamped image.  There isn’t a coordinating solid image for the smaller ornament so we cut a 1 3/4″ circle from the Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer paper and it fits perfectly behind the ornament.  We found the best way to adhere the foil and glimmer paper was with TomBow.

Supplies:
Stamp Set – Embellished Ornaments
Card Stock – Old Olive, Whisper White
Ink – Old Olive, Real Red
Other – Gold and Red Foil, Red and Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper, Delicate Ornaments Thinlits, Gold Cording Trim, Real Red Marker, 1 3/4″ Circle Punch, TomBow Glue

Square Envelope Gift Card

By | November 4, 2015
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Hi there

Finally got round to posting the cards we made at last months card class.  Now that I’m a ‘lady of leisure’ there should be no excuses for irregular blog posts!  My next task is to tidy my craft space so that I can craft!  Why is it you tidy the space and within a day you are back to only having an A4 size clear space?

Anyway on with our creations:

The first card we made was this cool gift card – thanks to Kristine McNickle for the tutorial.  With Christmas fast approaching this is a great way to ‘dress up’ a gift voucher for family and friends.  This style of card can be used of any occasion – just change the design on the front and the paper on the inside.

When designing this card front I originally stamped the ‘snowflake’ in Old Olive but it looked a bit plain so I restamped it in Mossy Meadow and positioned it just off the original image to give a shadow look.  Use the Stamp-A-Ma-Jig to make sure you line the second image just off the first.  The Stamp-A-Ma-Jig is a great tool to have in your kit – check it out on page 176 of the main catalogue.

I forgot to take a photo with the voucher in the envelope! but I’m sure you can image one sitting in the envelope.  The envelope is one of our Square Envelopes (7.9cm x 7.9cm) with the ‘flap’ cut off and is on page 149 of the AC.  This page (and page 147) has to be one of my favourites in the catalogue – there are so many amazing products hidden on these pages.

And here’s a side view.

This card uses the Holly Jolly Greetings stamp set which is sold on its own or as a bundle (save 15%) with the Christmas Greetings Thinlits Dies.

Supplies:
Stamp Set – Holly Jolly Greetings, A Little Something
Card Stock – Cherry Cobbler, Mossy Meadow, Whisper White
DSP – Merry Moments DSP Stack
Ink – Cheery Cobbler, Old Olive, Mossy Meadow, Smoky Slate
Other – Rhinestones, Stamp-A-Ma-Jig, Square Envelopes

Check back tomorrow for our second card 🙂

SU Colour Challenge and Masking

By | October 27, 2015
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Hi there

For those of you in NZ I hope you had an enjoyable Labour Weekend.  The weather was a bit of a mix but we were able to get out for a day trip on Sunday to Karangahake Gorge and had a wonderful day.  Last night we headed to Muriwai on the west coast for a picnic tea and then Phil did some photography.

This card should have been blogged a couple of months ago!  It was inspired by a challenge from our Sydney office – use Melon Mambo, Elegant Eggplant, Perfect Plum and Gold combined with a mask.  I’ve gone with the Happy Patterns mask.

The mask comes with the ‘dots’ and the ‘happy’ cut out so I used my dauber in the various colours to create the background and the words.  You do have to be careful not getting ink in the wrong spots!  The gold dots are punched out of gold foil using the Cupcake Builder punch and stuck down with tiny bits of dimensionals for some added height.

Supplies:
Stamp Set – Crazy about You
Card Stock – Elegant Eggplant, Gold Foil
Ink – Melon Mambo, Elegant Eggplant, Perfect Plum
Other – Happy Patterns Decorative Masks, Washi Label Punch, Cupcake Builder Punch, Fine Tip Glue Pen, Daubers, Dimensionals

Awesomely Artistic – Special Birthday

By | October 24, 2015
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Hi there

Wow – I can’t believe its been a week and half since I last did a blog!  I’ve had a couple of busy weeks prepping heaps of card kits for a community event that went really well plus my usual monthly card classes – so I haven’t had much ‘down time’ to blog.  I’ve made a list of all the cards I need to show so I’d better start blogging otherwise it will be Christmas before you see them!

Last month I was fortunate to be asked to one of my customer and dear friends 60th birthday afternoon ‘High Tea’.  It was a lovely afternoon out in Devonport on Auckland’s North Shore.

I know I’ve said it before but this set has got to be my favourite one in the catalogue.  I enjoy ‘colouring in’ – it’s very relaxing and I really enjoyed creating this special card.

I’ve done a take on the Triple Time stamping technique for the front with lovely colour and then gone with just black and white for the inside.

Supplies:
Stamp set – Awesomely Artistic, Butterfly Basics
Card Stock – Rose Red, Old Olive, Whisper White
Ink – Rose Red, Daffodil Delight, Old Olive, Momento Black
Other – Gold Foil, Hello You Thinlits, Little Numbers Thinlits

Creative Inkers Christmas Extravaganza
Time – 12:30 – 5:15pm (doors open at 12:00pm so come early and check out the display boards)
Cost – $35.00
Venue – Auckland Bridge Club, 273 Remuera Road (Cnr Remuera and Armadale Roads)
What is an Extravaganza?  An Extravaganza event is where you come along for a fun afternoon and create five different projects.  All supplies are provided – all you need to bring are scissors and some adhesive.  We have door prizes and afternoon tea is provided.
If you would like to come please contact me by Wednesday 28 October.